By the nature of water use, all modern sectors of the economy in the Chui Valley are usually divided into associations of water consumers and associations of water users. Water consumers are those sectors that extract water from its natural sources, use it for the production of industrial or agricultural products, for the domestic needs of the population, and return it to the sources elsewhere in smaller quantities and often in a polluted form. Sectoral water consumers include industry, thermal energy, agriculture, and enterprises for municipal and agricultural water supply.
Water users are those sectors that do not extract water from sources and use not the water itself, but its energy, or use water as a medium or element of the landscape. Sectors that are water users include hydropower, water transport, fisheries, as well as types of human activities such as water-based recreation or near water, water tourism, water sports, and others.
The role of water in all life processes is universally recognized. Without water, a person can live no more than 8 days. Agriculture is the main consumer of fresh water. For example, the water needed to grow
1 ton of wheat - 1500 tons
1 ton of rice - 7000 tons
1 ton of cotton - 10,000 tons of water.
In animal husbandry, the production of 1 ton of meat requires 2000 m3 of water. The maintenance of one head of cattle per day requires 115 liters. Water is necessary for almost all sectors of industry. For example, to produce
1 ton of pig iron - 50-150 tons
1 ton of plastics - 500-1000 tons
1 ton of cement - 4500 tons
1 ton of paper - 100,000 tons of fresh water.
A special place in the use of water resources is occupied by water consumption by the population. The amount of water needed for one resident per day depends on the climate of the area, the cultural level of the population, the degree of urban development, and the housing stock. Based on this, consumption norms have been developed. There is a constant increase in water consumption for both production and domestic needs. Experts have calculated that water consumption per resident using a water supply system is 200-240 liters, while those using a bucket consume only 20-40 liters. In Russia, on average, about 400 liters of drinking water are consumed per resident per day. In large cities, the per capita water consumption is 320 liters per day, in Moscow - 400 liters per day, and in St. Petersburg - 500 liters per day.
On average, in the Chui Valley, each person consumes more than 180 liters of water daily. In the cities of Bishkek and Tokmak, a lot of water is used for street cleaning and watering land plantings.
The solution to the problem of meeting human water needs for various purposes is closely related to ensuring its necessary quality.
The issues of quality are of particular importance for the so-called household-drinking water, which is used by people for drinking and domestic needs.
In general, 10% of the planet's river runoff is extracted for household and domestic needs. Of this, 5.6% is consumed irreversibly, partly evaporating and partly chemically binding (about 100 million m3 annually in the production process). If the irreversible withdrawal of water continues to increase at the same rate as now (4-5% annually), by 2100 humanity may exhaust all freshwater reserves in the geosphere - /K.M. Malin. Life Resources of Humanity. - Moscow, 1967, p. 17.
